Does YOUR Band Need a Record Label?

Does YOUR Band Need a Record Label?

Does YOUR Band Need a Record Label?

Until recently, every band who wanted to be successful had to be paired with a record label. The label would take care of all of the things that artists weren't able to do for themselves.get a nice website, record their music with top people, distribute and sell the music, book tours, handle press and endorsements, and more. The landscape of the music industry has changed immensely over the past 20 years or so, and now there's a wave of industry gurus that say that record labels are a thing of the past.

Let's take a minute to review the question "Does an artist really need a record label?"

I suppose the easiest, and least helpful, answer is "maybe" or "depends". In the past years, it has become simple (or at least feasible) for independent artists to do a lot of the things labels used to exclusively do. Now, there are such a large number of quality recording studios out there that almost anyone can afford to get a professional recording of their music. The Internet has allowed artists to promote their music to the entire world through social media. Independent bands can contract specialists for booking, publicity, management, and more. It's not exclusive anymore so why a record label?

The answer is that it depends on your goals. First of all, doing all of these things without a label helping you out is a lot of hard work more work than most are willing to put in. If you want 100% of your creative input and are willing to put in the hours, you can certainly do alright yourself. The biggest advantages labels still have are 1) money and 2) fame. It's hard to discern which is more important. No independent artist can afford to press hundreds of thousands of copies of their CD and distribute them to every chain store (Wal-Mart, Best Buy.) in the country, let alone the world. It's a lot more impressive sounding to venues, other bands, and industry reps to be on a major label than to be without one. On the other hand, is it necessary?

If your goals involve playing local shows, taking little road trips for a few days and returning, you don't need a record label. If you want to be a regional or national band that tours frequently, has a strong fanbase, and earns substantial money, you still don't need a record label. However, you will need one to take you where no band can take themselves into music stores, into national headlining tours in front of hundreds or thousands every night, onto the radio, and beyond. They have the cash and the contacts to develop you faster and perhaps better than you could on your own. Indie labels can even be helpful to expedite the growth process.

So the real question for you is "Do YOU need label backing, or can you achieve your goals independently?"

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